I went into a Bank of America branch, which was out of the state where I opened my account (Washington). Despite having my drivers license and account number, the branch refused my withdrawal request of $5,000, citing computer issues. Apparently WA, CA, and ID accounts are all on different computer systems and the agents had difficulty accessing my account. The bank practically held my funds hostage. Is this legal?
The bank's position is understandable from this aspect - how is it to know that the account number is legitimate and that the funds are there? If a bank is going to buy up other institutions and their deposits and hold itself out to be one organization, it ought to be able to serve all of its customers, even if all of its computer systems aren't integrated. Your bank ought to have made more of an attempt to verify the account and accommodate your needs as its customer.
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The bank's position is understandable from this aspect - how is it to know that the account number is legitimate and that the funds are there? If a bank is going to buy up other institutions and their deposits and hold itself out to be one organization, it ought to be able to serve all of its customers, even if all of its computer systems aren't integrated. Your bank ought to have made more of an attempt to verify the account and accommodate your needs as its customer.
